Cargo delivery allowed but with protocols in ECQ areas

MANILA – People’s movement will again be subjected to protocols in areas under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

The National Capital Region is under ECQ from Aug. 6 to 20 while Laguna, Iloilo City, and Cagayan de Oro will be until Aug. 15 only.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, in omnibus guidelines with amendments released Thursday, directed local government units (LGUs) to ensure unhampered movement by land, air, or sea of all types of goods and cargoes to and from their respective destinations regardless of existing community quarantine classification.

A maximum of five personnel of delivery vehicles transporting goods and cargoes are exempted from any testing and quarantine protocols that may be imposed by the LGUs en route to the point of destination, provided that they strictly observe social distancing measures.

The Philippine National Police has the authority to conduct inspection procedures within checkpoints to make sure protocols on strict home quarantine are being followed.

The movement of the authorized persons outside their residences (APOR) across areas placed under any form of community quarantine shall be allowed.

APORs include health and emergency frontline workers, uniformed personnel, government officials and employees on official travel, duly-authorized humanitarian assistance actors, especially those transporting medical supplies and laboratory specimens related to Covid-19, public utility vehicle operators, persons traveling for medical or humanitarian reasons, persons scheduled for vaccination, persons availing of Department of Foreign Affairs consular services, persons going to and from the airport, and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) carrying overseas employment certificates as well as those whose purpose of travel to the zone of destination is for work, business, or activity that is also permitted in areas under ECQ.

The authorized shuttle services are allowed to travel within and across areas placed under any form of community quarantine, with priority given to persons rendering health and emergency frontline services, according to the resolution.

Outbound travels

The IATF allows outbound travel of Filipinos subject to compliance with the following requirements.
-For those traveling on tourist or short-term/visitor visas, submission of confirmed round-trip tickets and adequate Omnibus Guidelines on Community Quarantine with travel and health insurance to cover travel disruptions and hospitalization in case of Covid-19 infections during their allowable period of stay abroad;
-Execution of a Bureau of Immigration declaration, acknowledging the risks involved in traveling, including the risk of delay in their return trip, to be provided at the check-in counters by the airlines;
-Whenever required by the country of destination or the airline, a negative Covid-19 test result will be taken in accordance with the health and safety protocols of such destination country or airline; and
-Upon return, they shall follow the Guidelines of the National Task Force for the Management of Returning Overseas Filipinos.

“The foregoing provisions shall not be interpreted to allow outbound travel by Filipinos to countries where travel restrictions are in place; and finally, this is without prejudice to the exercise of the mandate of the Bureau of Immigration with respect to departure formalities,” the resolution reads.

Repatriated OFWs and returning overseas Filipinos holders of quarantine certificates from the Department of Health or Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) shall be granted unhampered passage across zones en route to their final destination, as well as unimpeded entry to the final LGU of destination, regardless of the mode of transport.

Inbound international travel

The inbound international travelers must undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine and have a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test on the seventh day from arrival date.

In case of a negative test result, the arriving travelers shall complete the 10-day isolation period at the quarantine facility, with the remainder to be completed under home quarantine.

The BOQ will monitor whether the inbound travelers are showing Covid-19 symptoms during the 10 quarantine days.

The interzonal and intrazonal movements of non-APORs between areas placed under general community quarantine and modified general community quarantine for any purpose may be permitted but subjected to the reasonable regulations imposed by the LGU concerned and which should be submitted to the Department of the Interior and Local Government.